Art & Eloquence In Byzantium

In this interdisciplinary study, Henry Maguire examines the impact of several literary genres and rhetorical techniques on the visual arts of Byzantium. In particular, he shows that the literary embellishments of the sermons and hymns of the church nourished the imaginations of artists, and fundamentally affected the iconography, style, and arrangement of their work. Using provocative material previously unfamiliar to art historians, he concentrates on religious art from a.d. 843 to 1453.

"[Henry Maguire] undertakes to show the strong influence that certain types of literature exercised on the visual arts. Eloquence especially exercised a potent influence on iconography.... A fine interdisciplinary treatise."--John P. Cavarnos, American Historical Review

"[This is] an example of the kind of research that helps us to overcome the fragmentation of our education and our culture."--Gerald A. Press, Philosophy and Rhetoric

"Maguire draws on a huge range of religious literature which is little known to make his points, as well as the whole corpus of mediaeval monumental art, plus some examples from ivories, panel paintings and illuminated manuscripts. In the process, many suggestive parallels between text and image are made, offering new light on the development of Byzantine iconography."--Nicholas Gendle, Art International